Subject files from the CPGB archive

Catalogue record

Notes

Series CP/CENT/SUBJ. The central subject files comprise materials generated by ad hoc committees or of unclear provenance at the time that the archives were catalogued. The CPGB library and archive was not, it should be remembered, arranged according to conventional archival principles; nor were records kept of the provenance of particular groups of documents. Instead, a subject index was compiled, and items of diverse provenance were added to subject files already created. There are extensive materials relating to Labour-communist relations and in particular the CPGB's unsuccessful campaigns for affiliation to the Labour Party in 1943 and 1946. Other materials relate to the anti-fascist activities which again have given rise to a good deal of historical interest.41 From a later period there are also files relating to the Christian-Marxist dialogue, initiated in the 1960s in the aftermath of destalinisation and Vatican II; and to the Gay Liberation movement of the 1980s, when the CPGB's commitment to a 'broad democratic alliance' began to combine with the embracing of identity politics. (The first and fourth boxes of this series have not been reproduced owing to the physical condition of the documents.)